


I'd Give Up Forever To Touch You

by crumplelush



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021, Emotional Baggage, Family Drama, Fights, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mugging, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:08:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29147220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crumplelush/pseuds/crumplelush
Summary: Andrew has lived a long time and never found anyone as interesting as Neil. As he gets to know him, he finds out that sometimes people really are worth the sacrifice.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53
Collections: AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021





	1. I Don't Want The World To See Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mystrana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrana/gifts).



> For the AFTG Mixtape exchange. [Mystrana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrana/pseuds/Mystrana) chose  
> [Iris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYWuo9OFAwl) by the Goo Goo Dolls which is one of my favourite songs and absolutely beautiful.
> 
> This is set in Germany so the characters are speaking a mixture of English and German. To make this less confusing any speech in italics is German, otherwise it's English.

Andrew had just picked the mail off the mat when his laptop chimed with an incoming zoom call. He flicked through the envelopes as he slowly wandered over to his desk, knowing that Nicky wouldn’t ring off. He’d just sat down when he plucked the off-white envelope out of the pile of brown bills, the curly script identifying it as a wedding invitation even if he hadn’t known it was coming. He put it to one side as he clicked accept on Nicky’s call.

“Andrew! You always take forever to answer. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were avoiding me!” Nicky yelled, as though trying to be heard from Germany without the aid of speakers.

“If I thought it would get you to leave me alone, I would be”, Andrew replied.

“So mean” Nicky dramatically sniffed, one hand to his chest as though mortally wounded.

This was parr for the course for their regular conversations and the familiarity of it comforted Andrew. They chatted for a bit about Nicky’s job, Andrew’s cats, and completely avoided the elephant in the room. Of course, that was never going to last. Not with the wedding invite burning a hole in Andrew’s peripheral vision.

“So, Andrew”, Nicky began and the shift in his tone alerted Andrew as to what was about to come. “Did you get the wedding invite?”

Andrew waved it in front of the camera, hoping that this would be enough to avoid the conversation that Nicky was clearly gearing up for.

“It arrived this morning.”

“OK and you’re coming right? It’s a couple of months away so you have enough to time to sort stuff out. You can’t miss my wedding Andrew.”

Andrew sighed. “I’ll be there Nicky, I promise.”

Nicky beamed. “Great! Maybe you can fly out with Aaron? I know he’s near you now and-”

“No”, Andrew interrupted his cousin before he could continue his line of thinking. “I’ve said I’ll come to your wedding and I will. But that doesn’t mean I have to play happy families all of a sudden.”

“Andrew you can’t keep ignoring him, he’s your brother.”

“If he wants to talk to me, he knows where to find me. I’m ready to hear his apology anytime he wants to make it”, Andrew said in a tone of voice that brooked no argument.

Nicky sighed but gave up. “OK fine. Don’t forget to send me your measurements so I can get your suit started. I was thinking a nice navy blue…”

* * *

Three months later and Andrew is on a flight to Stuttgart, trying very hard not to stab the man next to him with the plastic butter knife that came with his meal. There’s a baby in front of them that’s been crying since take-off, with an equally frazzled mother, and the asshole next to Andrew has been loudly tsking and complaining every ten minutes. When they finally land Andrew “accidentally” drops his bag onto Asshole’s head and leaves it there blocking Asshole’s path while he helps the woman get her stuff together so she can leave. It’s petty but it gives him some minor satisfaction.

Nicky is waiting for him at arrivals. He grabs Andrew’s bag and grins at him, clearly wanting to move in for a hug but respecting Andrew’s space. Andrew appreciates it. Nicky explains that Erik will be outside with the car – he’d had to pick up another guest flying into a different terminal, so they’d split up. Andrew grunted in reply. He’d been on three separate planes and flying for the better part of a day, he was running extremely low on fumes. Luckily Nicky was used to him and just lead him outside to where Erik’s car was already sat.

Andrew clambered into the backseat and slumped down before turning to look at Erik’s guest. And promptly regretted all his life choices up til now. Sat there, looking like the physical manifestation of every wet dream Andrew had ever had, was a man with wild red hair, facial scars, and ice blue eyes that pierced into Andrew’s very soul. He was gorgeous. And despite his appalling sartorial choices looked incredibly fresh and put together. Not at all like he’d just gotten off an international flight.

“Neil this is my cousin Andrew, Andrew this is our friend Neil. He works at our head office but has been in London on a contract for a few days.”

Ah, so he’d only been travelling for two hours compared to Andrew’s 19. That explained why he looked so put together. Still. Andrew wished he’d taken the earlier flight so he could have been looking presentable when meeting the most attractive man he’d ever set eyes on. Not that he was expecting anything, it was just the principle of the thing.

Neil grinned, the scars and burns on his check pulling up and making his eyes twinkle. He didn’t bother offering a hand to shake and just said “nice to meet you”. His English accent was unexpected, and Andrew blamed the jetlag for his staring and not answering. Neil didn’t seem offended. He just swiped a hand through his hair and turned around to look out of the window.

They dropped Andrew off at his hotel, with instructions to sleep off his jetlag, and be ready for his suit fitting the next morning. He napped for a few hours, then forced himself awake so that he’d be able to sleep that night. After a quick shower he decided to set about exploring the local area before dinner.

Even though Nicky had been living in Stuttgart for nearly ten years now, it was Andrew’s first visit to the city. He spends some time wandering the streets, popping into local shops and looking at the things on sale. He wanders through a park where tourists are throwing coins into a fountain to wish for health, wealth, and happiness, and brushes off his rusty German to order a dinner from a restaurant.

It’s starting to get late when Andrew decides to head back to the hotel. He’s just passing a gap between two shops when he hears a scuffle coming from the alleyway. He’s about to ignore it – not his fight – when he hears a voice he recognises.

“ _You’re going to have to do better than that_ ” says the voice in German, and yup, that’s definitely Nicky’s friend. The unmistakeable sound of a punch landing follows, and Andrew sighs in resignation before heading into the alley, shrugging his jacket off to keep it clean.

Neil is surrounded by three men, spread out so he can only see two at a time. He’s got a bloody lip and redness on his face that looks like a black eye in the making. He’s snarling at his attackers, despite being half their size. His knuckles are also bloody and one of the guys surrounding him has a clearly broken nose. The remaining attackers have a dislocated shoulder and nasty limp respectively. Andrew guesses they jumped him thinking he’d be an easy mark, but Neil was clearly a man of hidden depths. Andrew had taken him for a mild-mannered pen pusher from their minimal interaction that morning. Clearly his assumption had been wrong.

The guy closest to Andrew makes a move while Neil is distracted looking at Broken Nose. He steps forward and grabs Limpy Joe and twists his arm up behind him. His yelp of pain draws attention from the other men, and Broken Nose rushes Andrew, while Dislocated Shoulder attempts to take advantage of Neil’s distraction. Andrew shoves Limpy Joe towards Broken Nose and sees Neil kick Dislocated Shoulder hard in the balls. DS drops like a sack of potatoes and Neil turns back towards Andrew, just in time to see Broken Nose land a punch.

Andrew’s head snaps back on reflex but he quickly recovers and gets Broken Nose in the kidneys, where he stumbles backwards and falls over the prone body of his companion. Limpy Joe pulls out a knife, and Andrew almost laughs at the irony before drawing his arms up to protect his face, glad he’d had the forethought to take his jacket off. It had cost a lot of money. The knife slices through his arms, but before he can do anything else Neil launches himself at Limpy Joe, and the knife goes skittering towards Andrew.

He picks it up and takes two quick steps to where Neil was straddling Limpy Joe and trying to hold him down, while avoiding being bucked off. Andrew squats down and holds the knife out to Limpy Joe’s throat, and he goes still.

“ _I know how to use this, and I have no qualms about doing so if necessary. We are leaving, and you will not follow us. Say yes if you understand_.”

“ _…Yes_ ” came the reluctant reply.

“ _Good. Now, stay._ ”

Andrew straightened up and helps Neil to his feet. They quickly exit the alleyway, Andrew grabbing his jacket on the way. He shrugs it on and pockets the knife, gesturing for Neil to lead the way.

Neil leads him to a nearby apartment and when Andrew turns to leave, secure in the knowledge that Neil is safe, but Neil gestures him inside. Neil’s flat is large and spacious. Andrew isn’t sure what he does, but he must be highly paid to afford this. He has a large living room with a beautiful view over the city, and a balcony. There’s a decent sized kitchen off the living room, with a room for a dining table. Neil had disappeared into what must be the bathroom, and there are three other rooms off the hallway, which Andrew assumes are bedrooms. There’s no noise in the flat, so if Neil has roommates they’re out, and the apartment is tastefully decorated but highly impersonal – no knick-knacks or trinkets anywhere. It looks like a showroom.

Neil comes back to the living room and looks amused to see Andrew hovering in the middle of the room. “You can sit down you know. The sofa won’t bite.” He’s carrying a basket of medical supplies.

Neil quickly and efficiently bandages his own knuckles and slaps a cold pack onto his eye with the speed and dexterity of someone who has done this before. Andrew wants to know how often this happens to him but thinks that it’s probably not the right thing to ask.

“Why did those guys jump you?” he asks instead.

“They asked me for money and got offended when I told them to fuck off” Neil answers absently as he slathers antiseptic cream onto some grazes onto his arm.

“Did you know they had a knife?”

“Oh yeah, but it’s not like I haven’t dealt with knives before” Neil said and laughed, gesturing towards the scars covering the right side of his face. Andrew stared in disbelief. Who was this guy?

“Your turn!” Neil said and turned to face him. Andrew was confused for a second and then the penny dropped.

“Oh. Uh, no need. They didn’t get me.”

“What are you on about? I saw the knife catch your arms. And one of those dicks got you in the face. You might not be showing it tonight, but you’ll definitely be worse for the wear tomorrow. Now, arms!”

Andrew felt like a deer in the headlights. It had been a long time since anyone had been close enough to notice any potential injuries, and longer still since they cared. He wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with the attention. Unfortunately, he’d taken his jacket off when he’d sat down, and Neil zoned in on his arms. He reached for them, before stopping his hand an inch before he made contact.

“Can I touch you?” he asked, and Andrew was so taken aback by someone asking permission that he said yes before he could remember himself. Neil picked up Andrews arm and held it in front of his face. Andrew could see the moment the Neil realised something was wrong. The obvious slash marks in the fabric of his armbands, and the clearly unbroken skin beneath them. Neil’s eyes snapped up to Andrew’s face and roamed around. No marks. No black eye. No split lip or bruised knuckles. Neil’s ice blue eyes bored into Andrew’s, and Andrew’s breath caught in his throat.

“I guess he didn’t get you then” Neil said as he laughed weakly and let go of Andrew’s arm. Andrew hummed in agreement, unsure what exactly had just happened and why Neil didn’t have more questions. He was unsettled and didn’t know why. This strange man who was a constellation of scars and took the strange in his stride. Andrew had lived a long and varied life, and he had never met anyone as interesting as Neil.

Just then Neil’s phone started beeping, and Neil shot to his feet to silence the alarm. Andrew cleared his throat and grabbed his jacket.

“I better go, early start in the morning.”

Neil smiled. He did that a lot, Andrew noticed. “Yeah. And dealing with Nicky’s wedding planning is best on a full night’s sleep.”

Andrew pointed in agreement. “You. You get it.”

Neil gave Andrew pointless directions back to his hotel and promised that he’d see him tomorrow. Andrew found himself looking forward to it despite himself.

“Goodnight Andrew.”

“Goodnight Neil.”


	2. I Just Want You To Know Who I Am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things come to a head at a family bonding moment, and Andrew's emotional walls come tumbling down in an explosive fashion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andrew talks about his life so there is vague allusions to his childhood and the assaults he faced. There's no explicit detail, but he references it.

Andrew wakes up early the next morning and gets in a quick work out in the hotel gym before breakfast, all the while thinking about Neil. Andrew knows he shouldn’t expend energy on useless endeavours. He’s going back to New York in ten days, back to his apartment and his life, and Neil cannot fit into that. Andrew doesn’t want to make friends. He doesn’t like losing people. It’s much easier not to let them in in the first place.

Despite this Neil’s easy smile stick in his mind as he leaves and wanders in the direction of the shop where the suit fitting is. Everyone is already there when he arrives. Everyone being Nicky, Erik, Erik’s brother Stefan, and Andrew’s own brother Aaron.

Andrew says hello to Nicky and Erik, a perfunctory “nice to meet you” to Stefan, and completely ignores his twin. Aaron, for his part, looks annoyed but equally as happy to pretend that Andrew doesn’t exist. Nicky looks slightly disappointed but is quickly distracted when the tailor brings out the suit bags containing the wedding outfits.

As Nicky had suggested months before, the suits are a deep navy blue. Andrew is relieved. Nicky was the only family he had that he still spoke to, and wanted to be there for him, but he doesn’t think his sense of duty would extend to a hot pink tuxedo. Thank god for Erik’s much more classic sense of style. The navy is deep enough that it’s close to Andrew’s standard black, and he doesn’t feel uncomfortable. They all have different colour ties and Andrew snatches the burgundy one before Aaron can get to it.

“Real mature” Aaron says, as he picks a forest green one instead. Andrew gives him the finger.

The rest of the appointment goes about as well as can be expected, Andrew behaving for Nicky’s sake. Nicky’s smile of gratitude makes it worthwhile. They break for lunch and Stefan leads them to a restaurant about ten minutes’ walk away that he manages. There are eight places set at the table they’re seated at. Andrew wasn’t expecting them to have company and steels himself for further human interaction.

They don’t have long to wait before their companions arrive. It turns out to be Stefan’s wife Helga, Katelyn, and – for some reason – Neil. Andrew acknowledges Helga, completely ignores Katelyn’s greeting, and says hello to Neil. Neil, for his part, lights up when he sees Andrew, and makes a beeline for the seat next to his.

“Oh thank god, some intelligent conversation!” he says, and ignores filthy look he gets from Aaron. He continues in a hushed tone of voice. Andrew decides not to inform him about Aaron’s bat hearing. “Apparently I needed help with appropriate wedding attire as my usual clothes aren’t suitable for ‘anything except a bonfire’” – he makes air quotations with his fingers – “and the only way to do that was to spend a day being dragged around a million shops by two strange women.”

Andrew snorts in amusement, and ignores the startled look that Nicky throws him. Andrew ignores everyone and focuses on his dinner as he listens to Neil describing his shopping trip in detail. He clearly had not enjoyed himself.

“I mean, I found a perfectly serviceable suit in the first store. Did I really need to go to three more? And was it necessary for me to go dress shopping with women I’ve never met before?”

Aaron is apparently incensed at this, because he slams down his fork and glares at Neil. “Don’t be so rude. These two women gave up their morning to help you with something you _clearly_ need help with.” He gestures at Neil’s too large T-shirt and raggedy jeans. “You’re being incredibly ungrateful, and I think you owe them an apology.”

Neil swallows the mouthful he’d been chewing, takes a sip of his drink, and leans back on his chair. He grins as his eyes narrow, and Andrew many have only just met the man, but he knows that whatever Neil’s about to say is going to be fun to witness.

“Let me explain something to you in words you can understand.” Oh, this is going to be _good_. “I don’t give a shit about clothes. They’ve never interested me. I dress like this because it’s convenient for me and my lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to dress. I earn three times your annual salary and attend business meetings all over the world. I have suits. But none of them were wedding suits so I agreed to buy a new one because Nicky asked, and he deserves the wedding of his dreams. What I didn’t agree to was being babysat by two women who ambushed me at the store, and then harangued me about my clothing choices and insisted they knew better than me about clothes that _I_ would be wearing.”

Katelyn looked abashed at this and started to apologise. Neil cut her off immediately as apparently he wasn’t done.

“And I don’t even care that much about it. Nicky and Erik have done so much for me, and this is the least I can do. But what I do care is when I’m venting about it in a _private conversation,_ some ignoramus interrupts and tells me I should be grateful about the experience. That’s my line right there, and you’ve just crossed it. So I highly suggest you shut your mouth before you make me say something you’ll regret.”

Andrew is wondering if 24 hours is long enough to propose marriage. Aaron is purple with rage. He’s also opening and closing his mouth like a fish, and it looks hilarious. Andrew is enjoying himself immensely. Aaron draws himself up, and Andrew is preparing for an outburst when Katelyn puts a hand on his arm and he visibly untenses, looking towards her.

“I’m sorry Neil. I didn’t know you and I made assumptions about you based on very little evidence, which I shouldn’t have done”, she says. Helga doesn’t speak much English and is a bit confused by the conversation, but she also apologises. Neil waves them off.

“It’s fine.”

Nicky laughs nervously. “Well, I guess there’s no family event without drama huh?”

Erik hummed in agreement. “Wasn’t there something else to talk about? The reason we met today for lunch?”

Aaron takes a deep breath and turns to Katelyn. She smiles at him and her hand tightens on his arm as she nods. Abruptly all good humour drains out of Andrew.

“We’re having a baby. I’m twelve weeks pregnant”, Katelyn announces with a beam. Andrew can barely hear Nicky’s squeal of joy over the blood rushing in his head. Nonononono. This can’t be happening. Andrew had thought that he’d come to terms with losing his brother to this woman, but apparently he hadn’t because he felt sick at this announcement. He can’t deal with this. He needs to get out.

He stands up rapidly, his chair screeching on the floor tiles before it topples over. He rushes out the door and down the street, breathing heavily and not really seeing the world around him. All he can see is himself alone in the future. No one with him. All alone. Forever and ever. His bleak future is all he can think about. Being alone and… eating cake?

He comes back to himself crouching in the car park of the restaurant. So he hadn’t gone far then. Neil is standing over him monologuing about the pastry delicacies of different nations for some reason. Before Andrew can ask though, Aaron comes storming out of the restaurant, fists clenched and a look of anger on his face that Andrew hadn’t seen since his mother’s funeral. Nicky trails after him, looking worried.

“You fucking asshole!” Aaron rages as he stalks across the lot. “I get that you’re unhappy with me, but could you just not make everything about you for one fucking second? I didn’t expect a round of applause, but was it too much to ask that you let us have a moment?”

Andrew stands up as Aaron reaches him, and Aaron swings for him. The sickening crunch of a bone breaking reverberates around the car park as Aaron’s fist connects with Andrew’s nose. Andrew sees Neil’s eyes go wide, hears Nicky’s loud exclamation of “Aaron!”. Before he can blink – much less retaliate – he sees Aaron double over and hold his fist as he starts swearing.

“Ow! Fucking hell!”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that it hurts when humans punch people”, he drawls as he covers his nose, and Aaron shoots him a venomous glare.

“Let me get some ice on that for you” Nicky says as he leads Aaron back inside to his doting girlfriend and awaiting family bliss. Andrew ignores the disappointed look in Nicky’s eyes. One problem at a time.

Andrew drops his hand from his nose, and Neil looks at him like he’s trying to figure something out. “I would say you should ice your nose too, but it seems like you’re not actually hurt.”

Andrew hums in acknowledgement and makes eye contact with Neil, as if daring him to say something.

“Want a drink?”, Neil asks, surprising Andrew.

He considers, his panic attack not a distance enough memory for him to be in a crowded bar.

“I have a nice single malt at my flat” Neil offers, and Andrew agrees.

* * *

Andrew sinks back into plush cushions as the whiskey warms its way down his throat. Neil has shucked his boots and is curled up in the armchair perpendicular to the sofa Andrew has sat on. It has not escaped Andrew’s notice that Neil is respectful of his personal space and has only touched Andrew when given explicit verbal consent. Neil has also noticed that there’s something… different about Andrew and hasn’t pushed for an answer. Hasn’t even asked.

“Do you want to know?” he asks, and to his credit Neil doesn’t pretend not to know what he’s talking about.

“If you want to tell me.”

Andrew throws back his drink, mentally wincing at this uncouth treatment of a 40-year-old single malt.

“I’m immortal” he says bluntly and waits for the inevitable barrage of questions. They don’t come. Neil simply nods as if Andrew had said he liked watching TV. When Andrew doesn’t say anything further, he gestures for him to continue. Andrew exhales shakily, and suddenly it’s like a dam has broken.

“I’m nearly 500 years old. I spent 350 years wandering the world alone, not knowing what I was. Why everyone around me grew old and died, while I stayed the same. And then 150 years ago I bumped into a boy with my face and found out what I was.

“Immortality runs in the family, it turns out. Aaron had been kept by our mother, but she got rid of me as she couldn’t afford to feed two of us. She left me on the church doorstep and ran.

“My childhood was awful. It wasn’t apparent at first that there was anything different about me. I grew at the same rate as other children – it was only when I reached 30 that I realised I looked the same as I had when I was 18 – and the only indication was that I never got sick or injured. At least, that’s what it looked like. Some of the guardians running that place weren’t very godly, despite their preaching. Some of them would beat us senseless while reciting bible verses and telling us how we were sinners. Some of them would do worse.”

Andrew looked at Neil to see if he understood without Andrew having to give more details. His expression darkened in understanding, but his otherwise impassive expression bolstered Andrew’s courage.

“No matter what they did to me it didn’t leave a mark upon my body. There was no blood. No bite marks, no bruises. I was a great delight to them. They said they were doing it for my own good, that they were protecting me. They promised that they would take care of me. They lied.

“At 15 I burned the place to the ground and ran to the other end of the country. I did what I need to do to survive, and years later when I realised I wasn’t aging I moved again. I spent decades doing that – centuries. Until one day I decided to move to America. And there I found Aaron and his mother.

“I found out what I was, what they were. We are immortals. There’s a few on the planet but not many. We’re born like this and can’t bestow it upon others like vampires or whatever. I found out the details of my birth, and I found out the details of Aaron’s life.

“His mother – Tilda – was not a good person. She hated her son and blamed him for ruining her life. She hated me turning up. She was hurting him. Of course, he had no bruises, but it was easy to see. She had to go.

“Aaron wasn’t pleased of course. He was very angry for a few years, threw me out of the funeral. But he came knocking on my door after a while and said he forgave me. We realised that we were all each other had, and I promised I would be there for him forever, and he promised me the same.”

Andrew stopped, exhausted all of a sudden. His throat felt dry. This was the longest speech he’d ever made in his entire – very very long – life. Neil seemed to realise what the problem was without Andrew verbalising it. He fetched two bottles of water, handing one to Andrew who downs half of it in one go.

“There are advantages to immortality, besides the obvious. It’s easier to notice trends when you live through them rather than studying them on the paper. Aaron and I have had some moderate success with the stock market. Enough for us to retain a lawyer firm that is happy to procure false documents for us, so we can live and travel. I’m also good at art trends. That’s actually my day job. I’m an art and antiquities dealer. It’s easy when you’re immortal. Buy some stuff, wait a few years, then sell it.”

Neil makes a noise to confirm he’s still listening, and Andrew takes another pull of water.

“And then there’s the downsides. Meeting Aaron and Tilda introduced me to another part of my family. A human side. Turns out that immortality has an opt-out clause. Tilda’s brother had opted out many years prior and become mortal. His descendants were still in contact with us. They knew all about us and Aaron and I kept in contact with that side of our family. Of course, that meant watching them grow up, grow old, and die. It’s difficult, but that’s the price of immortality.

“About 50 years ago we met a brand-new nephew, named Luther. He was obnoxious from birth, I never liked him. He got heavily involved with the church and didn’t like me and Aaron. He thought we were innately evil. When he reached 25 he started talking down to us, as though he was older than us, and tried to exert pressure on us. He wasn’t happy when I told him where to stick it. He also wasn’t happy that I was gay and banned us from his house. He didn’t want his son to be ‘swayed by our evil lifestyle’.”

“Nicky’s father” Neil said in understanding. If he had been shocked by Andrew’s sexuality he hadn’t shown it. Andrew nodded in confirmation.

“We kept up as much as we could, and when he came out as a teenager Aaron took him in. I was already living mostly in New York by that time, and as a minor Nicky couldn’t be relocated out of state. Aaron’s main base was in South Carolina, so he took him in and made sure he was safe. And the three of us were happy together for ten years.”

“And then Katelyn came along and destroyed it all” Neil said, and Andrew was taken aback by his perceptiveness.

“Yes. He came to me last year. He’d been seeing her for a while – hiding her from me – and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. A _normal_ life with her. Marriage, children, a white picket fence… He was renouncing his immortality. He was leaving me. He broke promise to me. He said he’d be with me forever, and like everyone else he _lied_.”

Andrew broke off suddenly as he releases the death grip he’d had on his water bottle. He took a deep breath, the tiredness from earlier returning full force. Neil seemed to recognise that his words had run out.

“Thank you for telling me”, he said. Andrew slumped back into the cushions; his eyes felt heavy. “I’ll make some lunch.” Neil bustled out to the kitchen and Andrew closed his eyes. He would rest for just a moment.

The emotional outburst had left him mentally drained, and Andrew found his consciousness slipped away to the sounds of Neil swearing colourfully at the contents of his fridge and the sensations of fluffy pillows under his back.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is late because I lost my charger and my laptop died just as I was about to post it. I'm waiting on a new charger to be delivered, but I found some of it in my emails so thought I'd post the first part at least. So, sorry it's late and I hope you like it!


End file.
